


Diffrent As It Ever Was

by Ninjagokata



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2020-04-06 01:52:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19052848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjagokata/pseuds/Ninjagokata
Summary: Leo isn’t very good with his portals, and he knows this. But he can make simple portals, like to his favourite pizzeria. But what he didn’t know, was that, the simple portal will take him to diffrent place then he expected, or rather… Diffrent time…





	1. The portal practice

**Author's Note:**

> This story is similiar to SAINW, but not the same.  
> It's in the ROTTMNT universe and Leo is main, instead of Donnie.  
> Lots of angst.

It was a weirdly quiet evening in the lair. Everyone was doing their thing.

Mikey was spraying some new masterpiece on any blank space that was left in his room.

Donnie was currently upgrading his bo-staff.

And Raph was eating a sandwitch, while watching the TV with pops.

And what was Leo doing? Actually, practicing with his sword. Who would have thought that he would ever need any practice? But that’s the reason why he was practicing in his room.

Alone.

It wasn’t going so well. He managed to do only one portal so far! And that was to Mike Tony’s pizza!

Out of so many tries, it was just one that was successful.

Leo gave himself a moment to prepare for another try, but that moment was disturbed by Raph coming into his room.

“Hey, Leo. What are you doin‘?“

Leo obviously had a shocked expression, because Raph’s smile changed into a frown.

“Hey, buddy. You okay?“

Leo recovered from the shock and quickly answered.

“Y-Yeah! You just startled me a little!“

“I’m sor-“ Raph tried to apologize, but Leo cut him off.

“So, what did you need?“

Raph’s frown was still in place as he said “I just wanted to know, what were you doing.“

Leo grinned. “I’ve been just doing my cool portal tricks! Check it out!“

Leo swinged with his sword and let out a relieved sigh as a portal opened.

“Voilà a portal to Mike Tony’s pizza!“ He proudly said as he turned from the portal.

That, was a mistake he would regret soon after.

“Nice work, Leo! In that case, don’t you want to get some pizza?“ Raph’s frown changed back into a smile.

“Yeah, sur--“ Leo‘s answer was cut off, when he face-planted into the floor. He landed with a grunt.

“Leo!“ Raph shouted in panic. But as he ran to Leo’s side, something from the portal pulled Leo further in.

“RAPH!!“ Leo screamed as he was pulled in the portal.

The last thing he remembered was the look of fear in Raph’s face as he called his name.

“LEO!!“

To be continued…


	2. Not home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo is trying to fighre out where is he and almost kills himself in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Chapter 2! Uhhh...yea.

“RAPH!“ Leo shouted as he shot up from his sleep.

For a minute he thought that it was all a nightmare, until he looked around.

He wasn’t home.

He was in some alley. “Maybe, I actually made a portal somewhere else?“ He thought.

He got up and quietly walked to the street. He peeked around the corner and got suprised as he didn’t see any humans on the street. He hid back in the alleyway, when he saw a huge mutant rhino come from one of the corners of the street.

“Mutant casually going on the street of New York?!“ he thought to himself. Now the realization came.

This isn’t his New York.

He looked around once more. Well, it looked like New York, but really faded and quiet.

As Leo was looking around himself, he didn’t notice the horribly placed can in the middle of the alley.

He backed into it and it fell over. It made a loud noise in the quiet alley.

Leo’s eyes widened as he heard the loud thumping of the rhino’s feet from the street.

Louder and louder.

He backed in the end of the alley.

There was no manhole. And the rooftop was too high for him to reach.

He was cornered.

The steps were still getting louder by the second.

Until something pulled him onto the rooftop and he let out a quiet yelp.

Or rather someone.

The stranger put a hand over his mouth and shushed him.

Leo watched as the rhino ran into the alley and looked around for the intruder. Thankfully he couldn’t see them on the rooftop.

The stranger put their hand away when the rhino walked away from the alley suspiciously.

The stranger turned Leo to face them.

Leo got a quick look at the figure, they had a faded hoodie with it’s hood up, but had a very similar goggles.

The stranger gasped and stumbled backwards. Then they got to their feet and ran across the rooftops.

Leo wanted to call out after them, but then he remembered, that he doesn’t want to attract attention, so he ran after the stranger instead.

Their steps were hardly heard even in the silence. And they were really quick too.

Leo had hard time catching up to them.

They were getting further away. “Dammit!“ Leo thought.

The stranger jumped down into an alley. So Leo followed.

But they weren’t there anymore.

Suddenly a quiet voice sounded behind him.

“…Leo?“

To be continued…


	3. Unbelievable Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who was the stranger? Where is he? Where are his brothers? Leo has a lot of questions and no explanations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning. This chapter is hella long.

“Huh…?“ Leo whispered as he turned after the voice.

There were two figures in front of him.

Two figures, that looked way too similar to his brothers.

But also kinda diffrent. They had a big amount of scars on them, unlike his brothers back home.

Suddenly he noticed that they were looking at him with the saddest of frowns.

Leo got startled, when ‘Mikey‘ leaped at him and crushed him by a bear hug.

“You‘re back…“ He whispered.

Leo got a bit confused and said “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be..?“

Leo turned to look at ‘Raph‘ with a confused look. He only looked at him with a frown, but kept silent.

‘Mikey‘ pulled from the bear hug and looked at Leo with a more serious frown.

“Wait, you’re not Leo.“

Leo got even more confused and asked “Who else would I be?“

“No, you’re not ‘our‘ Leo. You’re way too young, and have almost no scars.“ ‘Mikey‘ said with a serious tone.

“Who are you?“

“I am Leonardo!“ Leo desperately shouted, but made sure not to be too loud.

The two scarred brothers glanced at each other and then ‘Raph‘ asked

“Leo, what’s the last thing you remember?“

Leo hesitated, before he answered “Being with with you in my room, and practicing my portals. Then something from the portal pulling me in. And waking up in this dim version of New York.“

The brothers glanced at each other one more time and then looked at Leo.

“Come on. We’ll try to explain most of the things on the way.“ said ‘Raph‘.

Leo looked up at him with a serious look and said “Wait. As much as I’d like some explanations, I still have mostly no clue who you are. Yes, you look a lot like my brothers, but I don’t feel like taking any chances. So talk.“

The brothers share a hesitant look and then ‘Mikey‘ said “Well, we wanted to tell you most of this stuff on the way, but we don’t blame you. You shouldn’t trust strangers, even if they look similar. So, as a shorter explaination, we aren’t sure, but we think, that you somehow made a portal to the future. As cliche as it sounds, it’s most probably true. So, basically I‘m future Mikey and this is future Raph.“

Leo stared at Future Mikey with confusion and disbelief.

“Yeah, I expected you to react like that.“ Future Mikey said as he let out an awkward laugh.

“Okay. Okay, I think it kinda makes sense?“ Leo said awkwardly.

“Does that mean you trust us?“ Future Raph suddenly joined the conversation.

“Not as much as I’d like to, but enough to go with you, and listen to more explanations.“ Leo said with shrug.

Future Raph smiled.

“That’s enough for me.“

“I agree.“ Mikey said with his own smile.

And so, all of them went to their destination.

Suddenly Leo remembered, he didn‘t even know where was he going.

“Where are we going anyway?“

“To our hideout.“ answered Future Raph.

The hideout?

“Did you stop calling it the lair?“ Leo asked confused.

Both of the brothers tense up at the question, but then continue walking.

“No, the hideout is our new home.“ Future Mikey explained.

“Wait, what happened to the lair?“ Leo questioned further.

This time Future Raph answered.

“It got destroyed. Just like our lives that day.“

Leo looked at Future Raph with disbelief.

“H-How?“ he stuttered.

The brothers glanced at the floor and then Future Mikey said “Welp, guess it’s time to tell the whole story. Raph, do you want to start?“

“Nah, I’m good.“ Future Raph said with a slight smirk.

Future Mikey made a short sarcastic laugh and then said “Fine.“

“Leo, are you okay with this?“ He asked as he looked at Leo.

Leo glanced away for a second and then looked at Future Mikey with determination and said “I wouldn’t turn down some explanations now.“

Future Mikey looked at Leo with a smile, that faded a minute later.

“Okay.“ he said and paused for a second. Then he continued.

“It all started this fateful evening.“

-FLASHBACK-

It was a normal evening in the lair. The brothers were playing games together, while also trying not to wake up Splinter.

Leo was currently winning against Donnie, and Donnie was trying his best not to shout.

Mikey was chuckling, and Raph was trying to quiet them down.

It was fun.

Until…

They heard a loud bang.

Splinter woke up from his slumber and thought that it was the boys.

But they denied it and said that it came from the entrance.

They went to check it out and found out, that it was Baron Draxum.

They all jumped right into fighting, but they didn’t know…Draxum got stronger.

A lot stronger.

After a while of fighting, they were trapped…

Baron Draxum was about to land a powerful strike, and Raph was ready to protect his brothers.

But thankfully, their father came to the rescue.

He had blown Draxum away from his weakened sons.

“Ah, the rat.“ Draxum spat out annoyed.

“What? MY weak creations couldn’t protect themselves?“ he continued with a slight smirk..

Splinter glanced at his sons behind him, but he shouldn’t have done that.

All it needed was just the quick glance away, and Draxum was back on his move.

Splinter tried his best to block the shot, but got hurt anyway.

“Dad!!“ Mikey shouted in panic.

“Red, take your brothers, and run to safety!“ Splinter barely shouted between the strikes.

“But pops-!“ Raph tried to protest, but his father had cut him off.

“NOW!!!“ Splinter shouted at full volume.

Raph glanced at his little brothers and then back at his father with hesitation.

He closed his eyes and then said “Come on, guys. Pops‘ got this.“

“But Raph-!“ Mikey tried to argue, but was cut off when his brother lifted him under his arm.

Raph took all of his brothers and ran.

He ran.

And ran.

Until his legs couldn’t run anymore.

He let go of his brothers and glanced behind him, if he wasn’t followed.

He turned back to his brothers, and looked at each of them.

Donnie was staring with a terrified look into nothingness.

Leo had a panicked look, but Raph could see the tears glistening in his eyes.

But what shocked Raph the most, was the look that had been Mikey giving him.

Mikey had tears in his eyes, but his face radiated so much rage from it.

“HOW COULD YOU DO SOMEHING LIKE THAT??!“ he suddenly shouted.

“HOW COULD YOU LEAVE HIM LIKE THAT?!“ he continued furiously.

“Mikey--“ Raph tried to reason with his baby brother, but was cut off when Mikey gave him a weak punch into his chest.

He broke up crying afterwards, and ended up having to maintain on Raph to hold him.

“Mikey, shhhh……“ Raph tried to calm Mikey down.

“Come on, it’s pops. He’s strong. He’ll surely beat that Draxum guy up.“ he pulled Mikey into a soft hug.

Meanwhile the two remaining brothers tried to confort each other, and ended up hugging and quietly sobbing into each’s shoulder.

After a while, they calmed down and began to have determination, that their father will pull it off and beat Baron Draxum’s butt.

But when they came back to the lair…

Draxum was gone, and the only thing, that reamined from the fight was the mess everywhere and the…unmoving…body…on the floor.

“NO!!“ Raph shouted as he ran to the body.

It was his father…bloodied…

“Nonononono….“ Raph started to mutter, while holding the body close to himself.

Leo pulled Mikey into a tight hug and both of them started crying.

Donnie stood the furthest away, but understood what happened, and started to quietly sob.

-FLASHBACK END-

“We had to find a new home…“ Future Mikey said gloomily.

Leo looked at Future Mikey with tears in his eyes.

Future Raph noticed it and gave Leo a pat on the back.

“But that isn’t the end of the story.“ Future Mikey said with a blank look.

“I’ll take it from here, Mikey…“ Future Raph said and gave his brother a sad smile.

Future Mikey just nodded in approval.

“Okay, so…..“

-FLASHBACK-

It was one and a half month after the death of their beloved father and they finally settled in their new home.

No one had said it out loud, but everyone secretly wished revenge.

Until one day at dinner, Leo asked the question, that started everything after.

“Don’t you even think about getting revenge on that bastard Draxum?“

Raph almost choked on his food.

And Donnie and Mikey stopped eating.

No one said a word a before Donnie answered.

“Actually? Yeah, I did. A few times.“

Raph and Mikey stared at their brothers in disbelief.

“Guys.“ Raph tried to reason with thm.

“Come on, Raph. Don’t tell me, that it didn’t cross your mind.“ Leo looked up from his food at Raph.

“Well…“ Raph said as he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

“…Yes, It did cross my mind, but always when it did, I told myself, that it’s. Too. Dangerous.“

He gave Leo a stern lookand then continued.

“I am not going to risk losing any more family.“

There was a quiet silence for a few seconds, until a quiet voice joined the argument.

“…Raph is right, guys…It’s too dangerous… “ Mikey said quietly.

Everyone looked at Mikey. Mikey didn’t talk much these days.

“Leo, we are not going to continue this conversation.“ Raph said as he got up from the table and left the room.

The rest of them sat there for a while longer, until each of them started to leave.

After Leo left the room, Donnie started to get up too.

He started cleaning up his plate, which was considerably full. Good thing Raph wasn’t here to see it.

“…Donnie?“ Mikey spoke up.

“Yeah?“ Donnie asked.

“Please, don’t try to get revenge…“ Mikey broke into sobs at the end of the sentence.

Donnie walked to his brother and tried to soothe him.

“Shhhh….Mikey….I won’t…And me and Raph will try to make Leo change his mind…“

He hugged Mikey in a soft hug.

They stayed like that for a while, until Donnie pulled out.

“Ok I gotta go. I’ll be in my room, if you need me.“ He said at the doorway and left.

Mikey left to his room a while after.

Later that evening, everyone went to sleep, but Leo knew better.

There was only one genius, that didn’t go to sleep like everyone else.

Leo went up the hallway to the only door, that shined some light under them.

Leo opened he door, and thankfully didn’t get blinded by the light.

It was actually pretty dim.

Donnie must have heard it, because he spun around in his chair, and had a guilty look on his face.

The look dissapeared when he recognized, that it’s Leo in the doorway.

“Thought I was Raph?“ Leo teased.

“Shut up.“ Donnie muttered as he spun his chair back to the working table.

“Well, he would be mad, if he found out you haven’t been sleeping again.“ Leo felt a smirk coming on his face.

Donnie grumbled something, but then kept silent.

“…Did you really mean what you said during diner?“ Leo broke the silence.

Donnie tensed up a little at the question, but then calmed down again.

“…Yes.“ he simply answered.

Leo stared at the back of his brother for a few seconds before he said “Does that mean you would go with me, if I went for revenge tonight..?“

Donnie slowly spun the chair to face his brother.

The dim light was probably running out of energy, because it was suddenly a lot darker in the room. And because of that, Leo couldn’t see Donnie‘s expression.

Leo was already starting to think, that Donnie won’t answer, until Donnie did.

“…Yes…“

Leo was kinda suprised, that his brother said yes. He thought, that Donnie would chew him out for thinking like that.

“Really?“ Leo had to be sure.

“Yes, really.“ Donnie said as he got up from his chair.

“Just let me get ready first.“

They both got ready for the expected battle and headed for the exit.

Right before they went out the exit, Donnie glanced back and whispered “I’m sorry, Mikey.“

And so, they went to get revenge for their father.

If they walked all the way, they would’ve arrived by the morning. So they sticked to running.

They were in Draxum’s base by midnight.

They had to sneak very carefully to the main room, because of the base was full of security.

When they finally got to the room, where Draxum was supposed to be, they didn’t see anyone.

Donnie caught a glimpse of something behind them, so he shouted “Leo, watch out!“

They both barely jumped out of the way of an upcoming sneak attack.

“You’re all so predictable.“ Draxum said with a slight amusment.

“Although, I expected all of you.“ he continued.

Leo didn’t wait any longer and ran right at Draxum. Donnie joined a second afterwards.

But Draxum caught their weapons with his bare hands as they were flying towards his face.

The brothers were not expecting that.

“You know, if you would stop being reckless, maybe you would stop being so predictable.“ Draxum said smugly, during the fight.

Eventually he threw their weapons to the opposite corners of the large room.

But they couldn’t get past him.

He had them trapped.

Meanwhile at home, Raph woke up in the middle of the night and had a strange feeling, that something was wrong.

He got up and went to check on Leo, because most of trouble circled around him.

But Leo wasn’t in his room.

“Where could he be?“ Raph thought to himself.

Oh no…

Raph ran to check Donnie’s room.

Empty.

He ran to Donnie’s lab.

No one.

“Dammit!“ Raph tried not to shout, but that didn’t work.

Soon, Mikey came to the doorway of the lab and asked “R-Raph? What’s wrong?“

Raph took a deep breath to think through what to answer to his baby brother.

“They left, didn’t they.“ Mikey suddenly asked.

Raph looked at Mikey in disbelief. He didn’t expect his baby brother to take it so calmly.

“Yes.“ he answered.

Mikey looked to the ground and sighed.

“Come on, let’s go after them.“

Mikey looked up at Raph with determination and nodded.

Raph hadn’t seen Mikey so determined in a long time.

He missed it.

When Raph and Mikey got ready, they ran as fast as they could to Draxum’s base.

Raph didn’t expect to come to Draxum holding Leo in the air by the neck, while holding Donnie on the ground by his foot.

Raph roared as he jumped at Draxum with full force.

Draxum didn’t expect that, but still got to dodge the hit.

He dropped Leo and jumped off Donnie in the process of doing so.

“Look, who finally came.“ Draxum said with a smirk, even though Raph almost hit him.

“I guess it’s time for one of my new weapons.“ he said as he pulled out a weird blade.

“What may look like a simple blade is the sharpest blade, that ever existed.“ he continued.

Raph stood in front of his little brothers, while Mikey tried to help his brothers catch their breath.

The true fight started, when Draxum swinged himself at the turtles.

Raph blocked the shot with his tonfas, while Mikey tried to do a sneak attack from behind. Draxum blocked Mikey’s attack, but got hit by Raph in return.

Donnie and Leo finally got to their weapons and joined the fight.

The fight went really well for the brothers, until that one slash of Draxum’s blade…

As Mikey jumped and was about to land another hit, Draxum slashed in Mikey’s direction.

It cost Mikey his foot.

Mikey let out the most blood-curling scream, as he fell to the floor.

“MIKEY!!!“ All three brothers screamed in union.

Donnie was right by Mikey’s side, and was trying to bandage the leg to stop the blood brof flowing.

Raph charged himself at Draxum, but he only punched Raph away.

Draxum walked up to Donnie and Mikey.

When Donnie noticed Draxum, he stood up in front of his younger brother and did anything to protect him.

But it only took one wrong swing with his bo-staff.

And it cost Donnie his eye.

Donnie screamed in agony, as he clutched the right side of his face.

“DONNIE!!“ Raph screamed.

Raph ran at Draxum with a loud roar.

He manged to hit him a few times.

While Draxum was focusing on Raph, Leo ran to Donnie and Mikey’s side.

Mikey already passed out from blood loss and Donnie was still clutching the side of his face and panting heavily.

Leo wasn’t a doctor, but he knew how to bandage up a wound.

He carefully took Donnie’s hand of his face and gasped at the sight.

Right afterwards he hastily took off his mask and bandaged it as well as he could over Donnie’s eye.

Donnie was still in a state of shock, because he was looking to the ground, terrified.

“Stay with Mikey.“ Leo said, as he patted Donnie on the shoulder.

Donnie seemed to register the touch and nodded.

Leo ran to Raph‘s side and leaped himself at Draxum.

Draxum threw Leo off him and shoved Raph away.

Suddenly, a smirk came onto Draxum’s face as he ran to the wounded broters.

Donnie looked up at Draxum and positioned himself closer to Mikey.

He would protect Mikey even, if it cost him his life.

Donnie thought that, until Leo ran in front of him.

“You won’t hurt my brothers anymore. I won’t let you.“

Draxum raised his blade, but Leo didn’t feel the impact when it came down.

He heard a grunt, so he opended his eyes and saw….Raph in front of him.

“Raph!“ he shouted.

Raph fell onto him with the blade in his shell.

He looked back in the direction of Draxum, but he was…gone…

-FLASHBACK END-

Leo was looking at Future Raph horrified.

Future Mikey suddenly said “Hey, look! We’re here!“

Future Raph said “Oh, yeah. Leo, this is our hideout!“

Leo looked at Future Raph with confusion and shouted “Wait, wait! Are you serious?! You can’t just change the subject! Like, yes, your hideout looks…cool. But what happened next?! What happened to me?! Where’s Donnie?!“

The scarred brothers glanced at each other awkwardly and then Future Raph said “Okay, okay. We’ll tell the rest…“

“Should I tell this part, Raph?“ Future Mikey looked at his brother.

“If you don’t mind.“ Future Raph answered.

“Okay. So, this is from, what Raph and Donnie told me, because I was still out.“

-FLASHBACK-

The brothers got home, thankfully in one piece and Leo went to get Donnie a better bandage over his eye.

Donnie was in a better shape afterwards and could kinda help Leo treat their brothers.

A few days passed of their recovery and Raph and Mikey woke up.

Another week later, Donnie started to learn how to do a lot of things with just one eye.

Mikey needed crutches, because of his missing foot, so Donnie decited that he’ll make Mikey a robotic foot. Raph’s healing was hard, but he still managed to pull through.

Two weeks later, Leo decited, that he’ll go out for some food, because they were running low on it.

They found the bag of supplies and food in front of the door, but they haven’t seen Leo ever since….

Another week later, Donnie finally finished Mikey’s robotic foot. And their recovary was ending.

When they finally recovered, they always went outside in pairs and looked for Leo

But one day….Donnie wanted to go alone…and when he came back, he said, that he found Draxum. And that he told Donnie,…that he killed Leo. Donnie got into an argument with his brothers and said “But what if it’s true?! I don’t want to have false hopes.“

Then he left and never came back…

-FLASHBACK END-

“W-what?“ Leo stuttered

“Yeah…“ Future Raph sighed.

They sat on the couch and no one said anything for a long time, until Leo broke the silence.

“Hey, have you ever met with this weird hooded figure? Because I did, right before I met you guys.“

“No? Not in person at least. We saw them watching us sometimes, but then dissapearing.“ Future Raph answered.

“Their hoodie always felt similar, though.“ Future Mikey joined.

“Yeah. What colour was it..?“ Future Raph agreed.

“Oh, I know! It was something like a dim pur…ple…“ Leo got lost in thought in the end of the sentence.

Future Mikey looked at his brother in with widened eyes.

“You don’t think it could be…?“

“…Donnie?“ Leo finished the sentence.

To be continued…


	4. Find the non-believer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will they find the non-believing brother?   
> But...would he even accept them..?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! School's been in the way!  
> But anyways, hope you enjoy!

“Leo, you said you saw him right?“ Future Raph quickly asked.  
“Yeah, I did, but then he dissapeared into the alley, where you guys found me.“ Leo answered, remembering the moments of chasing the hooded stranger.  
The tension in the room was slowly growing, and everyone felt it.  
“Should…we go check it out?“ Mikey asked in a small voice, looking at the leader in red.  
“Don’t get your hopes up, Mikey. It could be one of the rare survivors.“ Future Raph answered with a slight strict tone.  
“Yeah, you’re right…“ Future turned away, dissapointed.  
“But we should check it out. Just to be sure.“ Future Raph gave his brother a determined smile.  
Leo could see the hope rising in the brothers.  
It was rising slowly.  
But it was there.  
“Leo, do you mind skipping the tour of our hideout?“ Future Raph looked at Leo with an apologetic smile.  
“Nah, it’s fine.“ Leo grinned.  
“Let’s go then.“ Raph motioned towards the entrance.

“Here it is.“ Future Mikey said as he jumped into the dark alley.  
Almost immediately, everyone started looking for some clues of a possible escape route.  
There weren’t any signs of a manhole cover, just an abandoned donut factory.  
Leo leaned, and looked trough the conveniently placed window right next to the back door.  
The window was pretty dirty, but Leo could still see through.  
Nothing special. Just an old factory full of dust and empty boxes.  
No secrets in sight.  
He leaned back from the window and looked around the alley again.  
“Anything yet, Leo?“ Future Raph noticed Leo at the window.  
“Nope.“ Leo quickly replied.  
Then, he noticed something on the wall.  
A mailbox!  
How didn’t he notice that before?  
Leo went to investigate it.  
And possibly open afterwards.  
It was locked.  
Dammit…  
“Hey, can anyone pick a lock?“ He glanced at the brothers behind him.  
“Yeah, I can.“ Future Mikey walked up to the mailbox.  
He took something small and pointy from his bag.  
“Kinda looks like a toothpick…“ Leo thought, staring as Future Mikey opened the mailbox.  
“Raph, come here!“ Future Mikey shouted at his brother.  
Future Raph rushed over to them and let out a quiet gasp.  
There was something hidden in the mailbox the entire time!  
A handprint lock.  
“Eureka.“ Leo smirked.  
He reached his hand towrds it, but Future Raph was quick enough to stop him.  
“You can’t just try to unlock it like that! If this is Donnie’s base, then he has it set for his own hand!“ He barked out angrily.  
“Come on! I’m Leon Neon! I have the touch for anything!“ Leo’s short-lasted pout turned into a cocky grin.  
“As much as I agree with you, Raph, we don’t know any other way in.“ Future Mikey said, studying the lock.  
Leo’s grin grew twice the size as he looked at Future Raph.  
Future Raph sighed, calming himself.  
“You’re right, Mikey. Leo, do your thing.“ The anger from his eyes dissapeared.  
Leo turned back to the mailbox and held his breath as he placed his hand on the display.  
The machine let out a soft humming sound, when it was scanning.  
Then the display flashed red and a moment later, they were falling.

They landed hard.   
Future Mikey’s metalic foot making an ear-wretching sound, when landing.  
Leo was dazed from the fall for a few seconds, then he regained his balance and looked around.  
They were in some sort of…cell?  
A big one actually.  
Leo glanced upwards, where now was just a ceiling.  
Not going back that way then.  
Leo looked at the brothers, but they seemed way calmer, then he felt.  
Leo looked through the bars, that were keeping them out, but found nothing then darkness, the only light coming from the cell.  
“What do you want?“ Leo jumped a little as he heard a tense voice coming from the dark.  
A hooded figure emerged from the light, holding tightly a classic bo-staff in his hands.  
“Donnie..?“ Future Raph stepped closer to the bars.  
The figure perked up at the name, and studied the brothers closer.  
He took off his hood and…  
It really was Donnie…  
His right eye was bandaged up, and it seemed like he didn’t wear his battle-shell.  
“Raph, Mikey? What are you doing here? How did you find me?“ Future Donnie’s face was full of confusion.  
He strared at his brothers, but then he noticed Leo.  
In and instant, Future Donnie’s face filled with intense fury and…grief.  
“Who is that?“ He slowly asked through gritted teenth.  
“Rude…“ Leo mumbled under his breath.  
“That’s… Leo from the past.“ Future Mikey stepped closer.  
“What?“ All the fury left Future Donnie’s face. Leaving him looking genuinely confused.  
“We can explain everything. But let us out first, Donnie.“ Future Raph softly said.  
“Fine, but you better explain everything.“ Future Donnie huffed as he pushed a button next to the bars.  
Future Raph and Mikey backed up, when they saw the bars staring to lift up.  
Finally, the cell fully opened and they stepped out.  
“Come on, follow me.“ Future Donnie started walking towards the darkness.  
“Thanks.“ Future Raph said with a slight hint of a smile.  
Future Donnie continued towards the darkness and muttered something along the lines of “It’s fine.“  
Leo looked around and didn’t get one thing.  
“How do you see in here?“ He asked, while squinting his eyes to see.  
“You’ll get used to it.“ Future Donnie answered casually.  
Leo bumped into Future Mikey, when they suddenly stopped.  
Future Mikey glenced at him and chuckled. Leo gave him a sheepish grin in return.  
He was almost blinded by the sudden light in front of them.  
They probably finally reached the end of the darkness.  
As they entered the purple lit room, Leo realized, that it wasn’t as bright as he thought.  
“Feel free to sit.“ Future Donnie motioned to a sofa, that looked like no one sat on it in ages.  
Leo frowned a little when he noticed a few dried blood stains.  
Leo swiped off the remaining dust and sat down.  
Future Raph and Mikey mumbled a “Thanks.“ to their brother and sat down beside Leo.  
Leo felt uncomfortable.  
Not because of the brothers sitting beside him.  
Because he felt someone’s eyes on him.  
But it wasn’t Future Raph or Mikey, which left one person.  
Leo carefully looked up at Future Donnie.  
Future Donnie was indeed looking at him, or rather staring at him, studying his every move.  
He quickly started looking at his brothers, when he noticed Leo’s eyes on him.  
“So?“ He folded his arms and raised his eyebrow at his brothers.  
“So…“ Future Raph looked away awkwardly.  
Future Donnie blew out an annoyed sigh.  
“You want to explain this?“ He pointed an accusing finger at Leo.  
Leo fought the urge to get offended.  
“Well, here’s the thing…“ Future Raph rubbed his neck, while trying to look away from his brother’s stern gaze.  
Future Mikey must’ve seen his big brother’s struggle to find words, so he decided to save his brother from the talking.  
“We will. After you start calling Leo by his name.“ He angrily looked at Future Donnie.  
Leo felt a slight smirk coming on his face.  
“Why should I?“ Future Donnie bit back at his brother.  
“And why shouldn’t you?“ Future Mikey asked, looking into his brother’s eye.  
“Because I refuse to. He’s a fake.“ Future Donnie spat out.  
Now Leo got offended.  
“Liste--“ He tried to argue.  
“Why would you say that?“ Future Raph cut Leo off.  
“Because he doesn’t belong here! Just look at him!“ Future Donnie shoved his finger in Leo’s face again.  
“Well, yeah! Because he’s from the past!“ Future Mikey stood up from the sofa.  
The two brothers now stood face to face.  
Future Raph quickly stood up and pried them apart.  
He looked at Future Donnie and calmly said “That’s what we wanted to explain. We don’t exacly know what happened, but he just showed up today and from what he told us, we think he somehow traveled from the past.“  
Future Donnie ran a hand across his face and sighed.  
He looked at Leo mildly annoyed and asked “Mind telling me what you told my brothers?“  
Leo got nervous, when he noticed, that everyone was looking at him and waiting for his answer.  
“Well, I’ve been trying out my cool portal tricks in my room, but then Raph came in, and we wanted to get some pizza. So I made a portal to Mike Tony’s Pizza, but something pulled me in, when I wasn’t looking. And then I woke up in your weird version of New York.“  
Future Donnie seemed to tense up at the explanations.  
“Do you know what pulled you in?“ He asked, putting his hand to his chin.  
“Nope. Didn’t see anything.“ Leo shrugged.  
Future Donnie looked at the ground in thought.  
There was silence for a few seconds, before Future Donnie’s eye windened and he quickly said “I…have to check on something really quick!“  
He rushed to one of the few doors in the room and they slammed shut behind him.  
Everyone left in the room was staring at the spot, where the genius dissapeared.  
A minute passed, and the door flew open again.  
Future Donnie seemed to locked them behind him.  
He came back to the sofa and floped onto it.  
Leo scooted a bit further away from Future Donnie, feeling rather uncomfortable.  
“So, what was that all about?“ Future Mikey asked.  
“I…just thought I left the oven on. Thankfully I didn’t.“ Future Donnie answered, rubbing his neck sheepishly.  
“Anyway, I think waht happened was, that the universe is trying to repair itself.“ He quickly changed the subject.  
“What do you mean ‘repair itself‘?“ Future Raph asked, frowning a little.  
Future Donnie sighed and explained “The universe knows, that one of us is missing. So it’s trying to repair itself. It took past Leo as an replacement for our Leo.“  
No one said a word some while afterwards.  
Because no one knew how to react.

To be continued…


	5. A truth or a lie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is trying to recover from the shocking truth. Will anyone be able to get Leo back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for not updating in a while! This time I was busy with writing other stuff and drawing.  
> But ANYWAY, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

“What?“ Future Raph was the first one to break the silence.

“Exacly what I said.“ Future Donnie lowered his head.

“B-But you can get me back right?“ Leo chuckled nervously.

“I…don’t know.“ Future Donnie lowered his head even more, but this time in shame.

Everyone looked at him.

Future Raph took his brother by the shoulder and walked with him away from their little brothers‘ hearing.

“Come on, Donnie. There must be a way to bring him back. We can figure something out together!“

“Look, Raph, I want to get him back. I really do! But I don’t know how! The only way we could get him back would be with his sword! But as it seems, he doesn’t have it with him!“

Future Raph walked away from his brother to the couch, where his younger brothers were sitting.

He looked at Leo, who tried to look anywhere, but his oldest brother’s tired eyes.

The oldest brother crouched, so he would be at the same eye level as Leo.

“Leo,“

 

The younger brother finally looked him in the eyes as a sign for him to continue.

“when you got in this place, did you have your sword with you?“

Leo gulped. “I-I don’t think so.“ He stammered.

“I told you so.“ Future Donnie suddenly appeared behind his brother.

Future Raph sighed and placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Leo. We’ll figure something out.“ He smiled and stood up again.

“Yeah, and worst case scenario is you getting stuck here with us! That’s not too bad is it?“ Future Mikey tried to cheer up his blue banded brother.

They both looked up at the two brothers looking down on them. Leo gave Future Mikey a weird look.

“But it’s not a win either, I get it.“ Future Mikey rolled his eyes.

No one talked some while after, again. Until Future Donnie spoke up.

“Anyone hungry? I think I might have something in the fridge.“

“Sure, what do you have?“ Future Raph looked at his brother, who was now opening the fridge door.

“Let’s see… Donuts, more donuts, a definietly not spoiled pizza and more donuts.“

Leo raised an eyebrow and looked at Future Donnie.

“Why do you have so many donuts?“

Future Donnie glanced at Leo and rolled his eyes.

“Do you still remember, that I live under an abandoned donut factory? Use you brain for once, Leon.“

“Oh, yeah.“ Leo didn’t try to tease his brother about the fact, that he just called him by his name, not a fake. He knows, that his tsundere brother would try to deny it immidiately. He mentaly chuckled to himself.

“So, what do you want?“ Future Donnie cleared his throat.

“I’ve probably changed my mind.“ Future Raph said awkwardly.

Future Donnie huffed in response and closed the fridge.

Future Mikey hummed in thought and gave the purple banded brother a suspisious stare.

“Say, Donnie?“

The asked turtle responded with a hum, still doing something at the fridge.

“We never got to know, what did you after you left?“

Future Donnie’s shoulders tensed up at the question.

At that, Future Mikey’s stare deepened.

“W-Well, I… Obviously went to look for a shelter, and found this. And I slowly managed to upgrade it into the shelter it is now.“ The genius brother stuttered. That sent Leo the chills. Donnie never stuttered. Only when he was nervous, which wasn’t very rare.

“That’s bullshit.“ Future Mikey caught everyone off guard.

“Mikey!“ Future Raph scolded his younger brother.

“But I’m right! I know I’ll sound childish right now, but it sounds so lame! Even I could come up with that in the same amount of time he did! And if he’s even telling the truth, he was gone for so long! Too long, to do so little!“ The least likely brother to say this, was blowing everyone’s minds.

The oldest brother was taken back, and it took him a while to say something.

“Yes, the story was a little bit blank, but what do you think, he was doing, then?!“

“I don’t know! But I know he has some secrets! Like how about that stunt with the ‘oven‘? What do you need oven an for, when you don’t have any food that needs to go in there?!“

Leo has never seen his Raph and Mikey fight over something, so this was a suprise to him. He glanced at the only turtle that had his back to everyone, and frowned at the sight. It was hard to see, but the genius brother was shaking. He seemed to be the only one to notice that though.

“My point is,“ Future Mikey sharply turned to look at the person, who’s fault is this argument in the first place.

“I’m watching you, Donatello.“

Future Raph sighed. 

“Come on, Mikey. This is getting ridiculous.“ He lowered his brother’s hand, with his own.

Everyone looked up, when Future Donnie mumbled something.

“You have something to say for yourself?“ Future Mikey spat out, recieving a little slap from his older brother.

“I said, that I’m not lying.“ Future Donnie said loudly.

Future Mikey scoffed.

The genius suddenly fled to the door, where the ‘oven‘ is supposed to be.

“Donnie, wait!“ Future Raph managed to shout, before the door slammed shut.

He sighed and went to sit down on the black chair at the big monitor. 

Future Mikey sat back down on the couch beside Leo.

Let’s just say, Leo felt rather uncomfortable.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you expect that?  
> Did you?  
> I bet ya didn't!  
> MUAHAHAHA!!!  
> I'm sorry, it's 0:01 while I'm writing this, so I'm probably sleep-drunk.


	6. The truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo realizes something and from that point all goes downhill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm very sorry, for not updating for a long time.. But hey! This is one of the longer chapters, and it's also one of the most important chapters for the story!  
> That's all, for now.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Leo has never experienced a more unconfortable silence in his life.

Another one of Future Raph’s sighs interrupted it though.

They have been sitting like this in silence for the past seven minutes.

Future Mikey took a deep breath.

“Look, Raph, I-I’m sorry for lashing out like that.“ He hung his head down in shame.

Future Raph gave his younger brother a tired smile.

“It’s fine, Mikey. I kinda get where you’re coming from.“ His smile fell.

“You do?“ Future Mikey’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, I’m glad, that we finally found Donnie, and that he is alive. But he’s already keeping secrets from us!“ Future Raph huffed in frustration.

“Then why did you side with him?!“ Future Mikey snapped at his older brother in confusion.

“Because I didn’t want him to leave!“ Future Raph defended himself.

As Leo listened to his brothers‘ bickering, he let his thoughts drift to his unofficial twin from the future.

He was worried for this Donnie, but at the same time, he wanted to know, what is he hiding.

While he was thinking, his eyes drifted to the ominous door behind him.

He wondered, what secrets lay behind it.

And…does he really want to know?

How would they open it, anyway?

It’s not like a secretive person like Future Donnie wouldn’t lock the super secret door after himself!

And then it clicked.

“Hey, guys?“ He interrupted the two bickering brothers.

“Yeah, Leo?“ Future Raph shifted his attention to Leo.

“Should we go after Donnie?“

“I mean, we would, but it’s not like we can get through the locked door!“ Future Mikey motioned towards the mysterious door behind him and Leo.

“But what if we could?“ Leo smirked at his confused brothers.

“What do you mean?“ Future Raph managed to look even more puzzled.

“You see…“ Leo started to get off the old couch. “Our dear genius brother seems to be a tad forgetful. Doesn’t he?“

“Leo, what are you talking about?“ Future Mikey frowned.

Leo started to slowly walk backwards towards the door. “Because…“ He grabbed the door handle.

“He didn‘t lock the door.“

He pullled the door open with ease as his brothers gaped.

“What.“ Future Raph looked between each of his brothers and the door.

“Leo, you’re an absolute genius.“ Future Mikey was looking at Leo, still amazed.

“Oh, you know, it’s natural.“ Leo’s cockiness returned along with a grin at the praise, but that grin fell right off, when a loud crash echoed from the open door. A quiet curse was faintly heard afterwards.

Only when they all properly looked inside the door, did they notice the spiral staircase leading into a lower level.

“Huh…“ Leo exhaled.

Future Raph stepped forward.

“Let’s go.“

 

The staircase seemed endless, but maybe that was because they were going so slowly.

Leo didn’t complain.

None of them were sure, what to expect at the end.

Unfortunately, they could already see the last step of the staircase.

Future Raph suddenly stopped, also stopping the younger two behind him.

“Why did you stop?“ Future Mikey whispered to his brother.

Future Raph pointed at something in front of him, but then moved aside so the two behind him could see, what he was pointing at.

There were glass shards on the floor, some a bit bloody.

“Oh geez….“ Leo whispered to himself.

He almost didn’t want to go further.

Almost.

Each of them carefully stepped around the shards and looked around the room.

It looked like some sort of secret underground lab.

It seemed pretty empty and small, the only things there were a desk filled with papers and notes, a closed door and some weird huge curtains.

Future Raph stepped around the shards again to get to the desk and started looking through the papers.

Future Mikey joined him soon after.

But Leo wasn’t interested in some boring papers, he wanted the real secrets.

So, he went straight for the huge curtains.

He reached for one of the curtains, but before he could see what’s behind, he heard a loud sound to his right.

The door was wide open and inbetween stood a shocked Future Donnie.

“What are you doing here?“ He asked in a hurried tone.

“We came to see, what YOU were doing here.“ Leo responded cockily.

“That’s none of your buisness.“ Future Donnie’s shocked expression quickly turned into an irritated one.

“Donnie you’re our brother and we’re worried about you!“ Future Raph frowned.

Future Donnie looked like he wanted to say something but his older brother cut him off.

“Which makes your buisness also our buisness.“ Future Raph gave his genius brother a stern look.

The said genius didn’t say a word, he just gritted his teeth and stormed back into the second room, but before the door could shut, Future Raph stopped it.

He entered the room with a desperate call for his brother.

“Donnie! Why do you always--“ He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, when he saw Future Donnie’s terrified look.

He just now noticed the weird hospital bed right beside his terrified brother.

He froze.

His eyes went wide at the sight before him.

“Raph?“ Future Mikey’s worried voice cut through the silence as he folowed his older brothers into the room.

He came to stand right beside his oldest brother and gasped, when he saw the reason his brothers were so quiet.

Tears started flowing from his eyes, soaking right through his mask.

They heard hesitant footsteps.

“Guys?...What’s up?“ Leo peeked around the door.

“Leo don’t come in here.“ Future Raph said through gritted teeth.

Leo had a feeling the anger wasn’t directed at him, and as it seemed, it was directed at the terrified genius in the middle of the room.

“Come on, Raph!“ Leo whined as he tried to squish between his brothers.

“Just let me see!“ He tried and tried.

And finally, he got the distraught orange-banded brother to move.

“Now, what are you all so quiet abou--“ His words got caught in his throat.

“W-What?“ He croaked out.

But…that wasn’t possible!

“Donnie…“ Future Raph growled.

“L-Look, I can explain!“ Future Donnie took a cautious step away from his older brother.

Future Mikey pointed an accusing finger at the genius and stepped forward.

“Well, you better! ‘Cause we’re not fooling around anymore!“ He was furious.

“Is that…“ Leo couldn’t find the courage to utter the single word.

Future Donnie looked at Leo.

“Leo…“ He whispered apologetically.

He breathed out as his shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, that’s…that’s our Leo…“ His gaze drifted to the bed beside him.

Future Raph took a loud step forwards, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Donnie, start talking. Now.“

His previous calm manner was completely gone by now.

Future Donnie pointed his defeated gaze to the floor and sighed heavily.

“Four years ago, when I went to search for Leo on my own, I did find him.“ His gaze very suddenly shifted into a glare.

“He was unconsious and badly hurt. But he wasn’t alone. Draxum was there with him. He wanted to make a deal. He said he’d give me back Leo, if I didn’t ever see you guys again. Well, and as you can see, I took the deal. I had to act quickly, because of Leo’s injuries. Thankfully, I found this abandoned factory and made it into my hideout. I took care of Leo’s wounds, and had been waiting for him to wake up ever since.“ The quick explanation came to an end and no one said a word.

Future Raph broke the silence first.

“You know, Donnie… I don‘t even know, what to believe anymore.“ He quietly said and left the room.

The sudden hurt expression on Future Donnie’s face was something Leo thought he would never see.

“Why didn’t you tell us..?“ Future Mikey’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

“I…was afraid. I feared, that Draxum would hurt you guys, if I did. And… I didn’t know, if Leo would survive this… I didn’t want to get your hopes up, only for them to come crashing down.“ The purple-banded brother looked at the unconsious turtle next to him.

Future Mikey’s sad frown turned into anger in the matter of seconds.

“WE THOUGHT YOU TWO WERE DEAD, YOU KNOW!!“ He shouted, tears spilling out of his eyes.

Both Leo and Future Donnie were surprised at the loud outburst, but the older of the two recovered quickly.

“I THOUGHT ONE OF US COULD BE DEAD!!“ He shouted back with an extremely desperate expression.

Future Mikey went silent, but after a minute, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“I bet you didn’t even try your hardest to save him.“ The anger behind those words was obvious.

He left the room afterwards.

Leo heard a faint “Raph, wait!“ a few seconds after.

He sadly looked at his miserable looking twin, and then left after his other two brothers without a word.

 

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....Are you surprised? Are you sad? Or angry?  
> Please leave reviews, if you can! I really appreciate it, and I answer every single one I can!  
> Thank you for reading!


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